First Major Mobile Banking Security Threat Hits the U.S.

Simple (formerly BankSimple) is coming after your customers — and it wants bankers’ help. The Portland startup — which has placed its technology platform on top of the Bancorp Bank — is actively looking for potential community and big bank partners, says Shamir Karkal, the fintech company’s CFO and co-founder.

After all, Simple can’t hold cash. It’s not a real bank in the strictest sense of the word, though the 70-employee company has shown traditional bankers the power of smartphone software.

This fall, Simple began offering a Goals feature as part of its mobile app. The add-on helps customers sock away cash without breaking their bottom line. The savings tool mimics some of the financial decisions folks make when, say, they only have $1,000 left in their checking account at the end of the month, but have a plan of saving $1,200 every four weeks with the goal of putting away $2,400 over the next eight.

As can be seen here, the role of traditional banks and other financial institutions cannot easily be replicated. It may be relatively simple to create DDA-like accounts, but an ability to offer loans, investments, and other products is limited with non-FI organizations. The execution of future innovations in banking will still require use of, or partnership with, traditional FIs.

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